Airbnb & Short-Let Insurance
Cover built for Kenyan Airbnb hosts and short-let owners — buildings, contents, guest liability, and the rotating-guest risk that standard home and landlord policies exclude.
from
KSh 18,000/year
Short-let and Airbnb hosting in Kenya falls into a gap most insurers exclude: standard homeowners cover assumes you live in the property, and ordinary landlord cover assumes a long-term tenant on a lease — neither anticipates a stream of paying guests you have never met. Airbnb and short-let insurance closes that gap, covering the building, the furnishings guests use, accidental and malicious guest damage, theft, and your liability if a guest is injured. It is rated on the property and contents value with a short-let loading, from about KSh 18,000 a year for a furnished one-bed unit. Vike places it with insurers that actually permit rotating-guest use; set it up on WhatsApp.
- Built for Airbnb / short-let — the rotating-guest use others exclude
- Buildings, furnishings, guest damage, theft & host liability
- From about KSh 18,000/year for a furnished one-bed unit
- Covers accidental and malicious damage by paying guests
- Guest (public) liability if someone is injured at the property
- Placed with insurers that permit short-stay use; arranged on WhatsApp
Short-let and serviced-apartment hosting has boomed across Nairobi, Mombasa, Nanyuki, Naivasha, and Diani — but the insurance market has been slow to catch up, and most hosts are quietly uninsured for the way they actually use their property. A standard homeowners policy is written on the assumption that you, the owner, live in the home; let it to a stream of paying guests and the insurer can treat the risk as undisclosed and decline a claim. An ordinary landlord policy assumes a single long-term tenant on a written lease, not a different guest every few nights booked through Airbnb, Booking.com, or directly.
Airbnb and short-let cover is written specifically for rotating-guest use. It protects the building and the furnishings your guests use, covers accidental and malicious damage caused by guests (the broken TV, the cigarette burn, the flooded bathroom), responds to theft, and — most importantly — provides public liability if a guest is injured on the property, which is where the genuinely large claims sit. Cover is rated on the property and contents values with a short-let loading to reflect the higher turnover, from roughly KSh 18,000 a year for a furnished one-bedroom unit, scaling with size, value, and how many units you run.
Vike places this cover with the subset of IRA-regulated insurers that actually permit short-stay rotational use, rather than quietly excluding it in the small print. We look at how you host — single unit or a small portfolio, whole-home or a room, platform-booked or direct — and match you to wording that holds up at claim time. Most hosts set the policy up and renew it over WhatsApp.
What It Covers
The building structure, where you own it (reinstatement / rebuild value)
Furniture, appliances, and furnishings provided for guests
Accidental damage caused by paying guests
Malicious damage by guests (extension on most short-let policies)
Theft of contents, including theft by guests where the policy allows
Public / guest liability for injury to a guest on the property
Loss of short-let income after an insured event makes the unit unlettable
All-risks options for high-value items left in the unit
Who It's For
Airbnb and Booking.com hosts letting whole homes or apartments
Owners of serviced apartments and holiday lets (Nanyuki, Naivasha, Diani, the coast)
Hosts running a small portfolio of short-let units
Owners who let occasionally — a city apartment or upcountry cottage between use
Property managers hosting units on behalf of absentee owners
Types We Cover
Each profile is rated and underwritten differently. Talk to us so we can match your specific situation.
Single-Unit Short-Let
One furnished unit let to short-stay guests — buildings (if owned), contents, guest damage, and guest liability under one policy. The standard host cover.
Host Portfolio
One schedule covering several short-let units, with the premium adjusting on the combined property and contents values. For hosts running multiple listings.
Room-Only / Live-In Host
For hosts who let a room while living in the property. Adjusts the contents and liability terms to reflect shared occupancy with paying guests.
Contents-Only Short-Let
Where you let an apartment whose structure is insured by the body corporate, this covers your furnishings, guest damage, theft, and liability without duplicating the block's buildings cover.
Real-World Scenarios
A guest floods the bathroom
A guest leaves a tap running and water damages the unit below and your furnishings. The policy covers the damage to your contents and the building and responds to the downstairs neighbour's claim under the liability section — none of which a standard homeowners policy would pay once it learned the unit was a short-let.
A guest is injured on the stairs
A guest slips on an external stair and is hurt. Public / guest liability covers the injury claim and legal defence costs — typically the largest exposure a host faces, and the main reason to insure properly rather than rely on a platform's limited host guarantee.
The platform's host guarantee falls short
Airbnb's AirCover and similar platform schemes are limited, exclude many situations, and are not a substitute for insurance. A dedicated short-let policy covers the gaps — liability, named perils, loss of income — that the platform guarantee leaves open.
Optional Benefits & Add-ons
Loss of short-let income / business interruption
Malicious damage and theft by guests
All-risks for portable high-value items
Accidental damage to guests' own belongings (host's option)
Public liability uplift for higher guest numbers
Political violence and terrorism (PVT)
Availability varies by underwriter. Our advisors will confirm what is available on your chosen policy.
Frequently Asked Questions
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